“Do you think she can make a zucchini cake?” Hannah asked.
“No. We’re having a full-on, worst-kind-of-treat-for-you cake. It’s what all your family and friends are going to want to celebrate your day with you,” I told her.
“But I want them to be healthy, too!”
“I want a chocolate cake with s’more filling for my birthday,” Kiran said, joining us on the deck. Jalissa followed them, her stuffed panda dragging behind her on the ground with her black hair and dark eyes shimmering in the sunlight.
“I don’t think there’s such a thing as s’more filling,” Stacy said.
Kiran shook his head. “Helen said she’d make it just for me.” He looked down at Hannah. “I bet if you tell her you want it, she’ll make it for both of us.”
Kiran would share just about anything with those he loved.
“You like s’mores, remember?” I said to Hannah. “Grams made them with you right over there at the firepit on Halloween.”
I waved toward the circle of stones at the back of the yard, far away from the play structure.
Hannah’s chin wobbled. She flung herself into my arms. “I miss her, Mommy.”
I hugged my daughter tight, knowing nothing I could say would take away the ache inside of her. I whispered into her hair, “Me too.”
Brady
LAST HABIT
“Automatic, just like magic, wouldn't wanna quit it even if I could
100-proof of hooked on you.”
Performed by Matt Stell
Written by Maher / Moore / Stell
My phone rang as I wentup the steps to the second floor of the old Kincaid’s drug store. The realtor, Elsa Chan, was walking ahead of me as she tried not to touch any of the dusty rails or walls with her bright-yellow suit.
Her perfectly cut black bob swung around her face like strands from a willow tree, wispy and gentle. She’d been two years younger than William and me in school, and I barely remembered her, even though I’d bet she left a mark on anyone she’d been in a relationship with. She wasn’t the kind of person you forgot. Smart. Sexy. Dynamic.
But she didn’t interest me in the least.
I still had the taste of caramelized sugar, dark chocolate, and hints of berries burned into every single one of my senses.
My phone stopped ringing and then restarted. I looked down and saw Mom’s face on the screen.
“Hey, Mom, what’s up?”
“Where are you?” she asked snappily.
“I had some business to take care of,” I told her with a sigh.
The night before, I’d come home from a blissful kiss to find all the lights in the house blazing and Mom on a rampage. I’d been gone for most of the day, and even though it had been at Cassidy’s insistence, Mom didn’t see it that way. The argument between the three of us had gotten heated, with Cassidy insisting she wasn’t going to be treated like an invalid and Mom threatening not to return to Ireland.
It had been Dad who’d brought peace to the household by reminding Mom Cassidy was not only an adult but was also now a mom herself. It hadn’t ended well. Mom had stormed off, and Dad had slept on the couch for the first time in what felt like a decade—since the argument they’d had about me and Juilliard.
“Cassidy and Chevelle aren’t here!” Panic rang through her voice as I turned to take in my sister. She was dressed in a button-down top and a flowy skirt with ballet slippers on her feet. Her hair was up in a ponytail, and she had Chevelle tied to her chestin some sort of sling.
“They’re with me, Mom,” I said.
Cassidy had been going stir crazy this morning. We both had, and I’d wanted to check out the space William was trying to find a buyer for next to Elana’s. His desire to merge the two stores and his plans to finance the remaking of Grand Orchard were still bugging the hell out of me. Seeing Kincaid’s had been the perfect excuse to get out.
